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    Germanic and Nordic lands monsters/myths legends, monsters and others Rate Topic: -----

    #1 User is offline   Rhuen 

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    Posted 23 March 2004 - 03:23 PM

    The United Kingdom has a thread, Italy and Greece have their own threads, so here is the one for the monsters of the Germanic parts of Europe and the North lands

    I begin with this creature

    barbegazi
    These are shy gnomes who live in the mountains of France and Switzerland. They live in caverns and tunnels that they have excavated near the tops of mountains. The French words 'barbe glacée', which means 'frozen beard' gives them their name. They hibernate all summer and emerge only when the temperature is below zero. They have very large feet which they use as a combination of ski and snowshoe. They enjoy riding avalanches. They can also use their feet as shovels to tunnel into snow drifts. They are generally benevolent to humans, warning of avalanches and digging people out after avalanches.
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    #2 User is offline   Rhuen 

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    Posted 23 March 2004 - 05:29 PM

    bicorne
    This creature, which is sometimes depicted as a both panther-like and cow-like, but in both cases is shown as being fat from overeating. The bicorne eats carefully selected virtuous husbands. The bicorne's counter part is the chichevache.

    bishop fish
    In many ways, bishop fish are like mermaids. These creatures have the shaven head of a Catholic monk and the body of a fish. In some particular detail, they have been described as having a mitered head, a scaly body with two claw-like fins instead of arms, and a fin-like cloak.
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    #3 User is offline   Rhuen 

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    Posted 23 March 2004 - 08:19 PM

    calygreyhound
    This creature from medieval heraldry has the body of an antelope, the claws of an eagle of its forelegs and the hooves of an ox on its hind legs. It symbolizes swiftness
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    #4 User is offline   Rhuen 

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    Posted 23 March 2004 - 08:57 PM

    chichevache
    A very thin cow with a human face, this creature fed on obedient and faithful wives. This counterpart of the bicorne was perpetually hungry as there were very few of these virtuous women.

    "although this next one supposedly lived in Africa its only apperance is in a European Beastiary and not in African lore"

    crocotta
    Documented by Pliny, this offspring of a wolf and dog can be found in Ethiopia. It is said that this creature can break anything with its teeth and can also eat anything. It may be just an exaggeration of a hyena which has very powerful jaws.
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    #5 User is offline   Rhuen 

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    Posted 23 March 2004 - 11:44 PM

    doppelganger
    Meaning "double walker" a doppelganger is a shadow-self that accompanies every human. Only the owner of a doppelganger can see it, otherwise it is invisible to human eyes. Dogs and cats have been known to see doppelgangers. Providing sympathetic company, a doppelganger almost always stands behind a person, and they cast no reflection in a mirror. They are prepared to listen and give advice to humans, either implanting ideas in their heads, or a sort of osmosis. It is said to be bad luck if it is seen, and rarely a doppelganger will make itself visible to friends or family, often causing great confusion. Doppelgangers can be mischievous and malicious.

    dziwozony
    The Dziwozony are a race of tall, athletic women from Poland. These wild women live in the forests and will attack lone humans, and will sometimes force young men to be their lovers. They are also known to throw their breasts over their shoulders, so as to move quickly and comfortably. Like færies, they will sometimes steal human babis and leave
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    #6 User is offline   Rhuen 

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    Posted 16 April 2004 - 08:10 PM

    Druden
    (German) Female demon


    Jotun,Joten
    (German) Demons


    Perchten,Berchten
    (German) Demons

    Puck,Pukje,Pukis
    (German) Evil sprite

    Troll
    (Scandinavian) Night demon


    Werewolf
    (German) Wolf-like demon

    Alruna-wife Household spirits

    Kobold
    (German) Mischievous household spirit

    Bilwis,Pilwiz
    (German) Nature spirit, later malevolent spirit

    Bergelmi,Ymir Frost-giant

    Nixe
    (German) Water-sprite
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    #7 User is offline   Rhuen 

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    Posted 18 April 2004 - 08:45 PM

    Familiar spirit
    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
    In mythology, a familiar spirit, commonly called familiar (from Middle English familiar, related to family) is a spirit who obeys a witch, conjurer, etc., and serves and helps that person. Familiars often perform domestic duties and help in farming, but also aid the person in bewitching people. These spirits are also said to be able of inspiring artists and writers (compare with muses).
    There is no standard depiction of a familiar, but they are commonly considered to be dwarf and
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    #8 User is offline   Rhuen 

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    Posted 18 April 2004 - 08:53 PM

    Goblin
    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
    A goblin is
    "An evil or mischievous spirit; a playful or malicious elf; a frightful phantom; gnome." (source)
    Christina Rossetti, in the poem "Goblin Market", used goblins as symbols of earthly desires that tantalize and nearly destroy a girl who falls under their spell.
    Author George MacDonald, in The Princess and the Goblin, portrayed them as malevolent, subterranean creatures. The book is said to have been a childhood favorite of J. R. R. Tolkien, who populated his Middle-earth with goblins but later preferred to call them orcs in order to distance them from fairy tale characters.
    In many fantasy role playing games and books goblins and orcs are usually different, but related, creatures - goblins are smaller cousins of orcs. See: goblinoid.
    Goblins also figure prominently in the Jim Henson film Labyrinth, in which a powerful sorcerer (Jareth the Goblin King, portrayed by David Bowie) commands a legion of foul, diminutive, largely incompetent creatures. The goblins initially do the bidding of a young girl (played by Jennifer Connelly), who must ultimately overcome her fear of them and resist seduction by their king.
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    #9 User is offline   Rhuen 

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    Posted 18 April 2004 - 09:15 PM

    Hiisi
    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
    Hiisi are a kind of tutelary spirits in mythologies of the Baltic Sea area. Most often they are considered to be malicious or at least very horrifying. They are found near salient promontories, ominous crevasses, large boulders, potholes and other awesome geographical features or rough terrain.
    "Hiisi" was also one of the twelve sons of Kaleva, the great king of Kainuu in Kalevala. Those sons were later twelve constellations on the sky.
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    #10 User is offline   Rhuen 

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    Posted 18 April 2004 - 09:25 PM

    Lempo
    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
    Lempo is a sort of goblin from Finnish folklore and mythology, who appears in the Kalevala. Lempo is a demon, as are Hiisi, Piru, and Jutas; together, they sought to slay Väinämöinen. He may also be Lemminkäinen's bad side.
    Oddly, Lempo the evil goblin was also the ancient Finnish god of love. This would explain a great many things.
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    #11 User is offline   Rhuen 

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    Posted 18 April 2004 - 09:41 PM

    Näkki
    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
    In Finnish mythology, a Näkki is a Nix that resides in murky pools, wells and under bridges that cross rivers.
    He has been borrowed from Näcken in Scandinavian folklore.
    He is principally known for pulling young children into the depths, if they lean over bridge railings, or otherwise look into water surfaces to see their own reflection. Näkki is a fine example of a spirit enlisted by parents to guide children away from unsafe practises.
    It is also said that although Näkki is very beautiful from the front, his backside is hairy and extremely ugly. Näkki is also called Vetehinen.

    Näkki is also a brand of condoms.
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    #12 User is offline   Rhuen 

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    Posted 18 April 2004 - 09:45 PM

    Perkons
    (Redirected from Perkele)
    In Latvian mythology, Perkons was the god of thunder, rain, mountains, oak trees and the sky, one of the most important deities in the pantheon.
    By the 2nd century, Perkons was popular throughout the Baltic region. He was strongly associated with Dievs, though the two were clearly different.
    The people sacrificed black calfs, goats, and roosters to Perkons, especially during droughts. The surrounding peoples came to these sacrifices to eat and drink together, after pouring beer onto the ground or into the fire for him. The Latvians also sacrificed cooked food before meals to Perkons, in order to prevent thunderstorms, during which honeycombs were placed into fires to disperse the clouds.
    Perkons' family included sons that symbolized various aspects of thunderstorms (such as thunder, lightning, lightning strikes) and daughters that symbolized various kinds of rain.
    Perkons appeared on a golden horse, wielding a sword, iron club, golden whip and a knife. Ancient Latvians wore tiny axes on their clothing in his honor.
    Alternatives
    Perkunas (Lithuanian), Percunis (Prussian), Perun (Slavonic), Perkonins (diminutive), Perkonitis (diminutive), Perkona tevs, Vecais tevs
    Etymology
    Perkunas (Lithuanian), Lett. Perkuôns, Percuns / Parcuns (Old Prussian)
    • IE. *perk-oun-os; (Baltic languages) name of Thunderlord, also "telling", analogous to Perun in the Slavonic
    • IE. verb. *perk; "to fling, to throw, to strike(??)". Compare to Old Slavonic *pork and *pork-os "(Old Polish "prok") instrument for throwing stones, "slingshot" and *pork-t-is "slingshot";
    • from *perk- also > IE. *perk(w)-os "an oak, tree", also the abode of a pagan god, such as a tree, which is struck by thunderbolts or with some force. (Latin quercus = "an oak", Celtic herkos, Old Icelandic "fork, staff, cudgel, club" - rather "oaken stick" than "instrument for beating");
    • IE. *perk-uniy-a "oak wood" (Celtic herkynia, Lithuanian perkunja, Russian perynja *perkynja) - secondarily united or created after the example: *perg-uniy-a "steep place, mountain" - and understood as a "holy forest = oak wood on a hill", see: Przeginia.
    Striking variancy *per- / *perkw- with identical passage-doubling p > k(w), even within the same notions: Latin Quer-n-us / querc-us (however quernus maybe from *quer-c-oun-os).

    The Finns assumed the name perkele to refer an evil spirit (not being on good terms with the Lithuanians at that time). Later with Christianity they also co-opted him for one of the titles of Satan. perkele is also the most common swearword in the Finnish language; and frequently the first word taught to foreigners. (It is pronounced roughly PEHR-ke-LLEH)
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    #13 User is offline   Rhuen 

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    Posted 18 April 2004 - 09:46 PM

    Piru
    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
    A Piru is a minor evil spirit or Demon in Finnish mythology.
    In folklore the Piru often features as a nasty spirit of the forest with which a wise-aleck either wins or loses a battle of wits, giving or receiving a forfeit in return.
    The Devil is often referred to as Pääpiru, literally "Headpiru".
    "Piru" is also a mild swearword in Finnish.
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    #14 User is offline   Rhuen 

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    Posted 19 April 2004 - 02:03 AM

    Rusalka
    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
    In Slavic mythology Rusałka was a female ghost, water nymph or succubus-like demon who lived in a lake. Her eyes shone like a green fire. Men who were seduced by her died in her arms, and in some versions her laugh can also cause death (compare with the Irish banshee). She corresponds to the Scandinavian and German Nixie. This ghostly version of the succubus is the soul of a young woman who died in or near a lake (many of these rusalki were murdered by lovers), and came to haunt that lake; this undead rusalka is not particularly malevolent, and will be allowed to die in peace if her death is avenged.
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    #15 User is offline   Rhuen 

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    Posted 19 April 2004 - 02:39 AM

    okay this one is really close to Russia but I checked and Latvia is a baltic sea nation to the west of Russia so it gets placed here

    Vadatajs
    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
    In Latvian mythology, a Vadatajs ("leading to nowhere") was a type of demon responsible for getting people lost. They sent people in the wrong directions at crossroads, causing the traveler's soul to be lost as well.
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    #16 User is offline   Rhuen 

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    Posted 19 April 2004 - 02:41 AM

    Velns
    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
    In Latvian mythology, Velns ("devil") was a Latvian demon. He was married to Ragana.
    In many stories, the evil Velns was stupid and simply outwitted by shepherds and small boys
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    #17 User is offline   Rhuen 

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    Posted 19 April 2004 - 03:11 AM

    Duergar
    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
    In Norse mythology, Duergar or Dvergar is the name of Dwarfs.
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    #18 User is offline   Rhuen 

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    Posted 19 April 2004 - 03:21 AM

    this one has an alternate definition in the united kingdom thread

    Elf
    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
    Elves are mythical creatures of Germanic mythology that have survived in northern European folklore, often pictured as small, youthful-seeming men and women of great beauty living in forests and other natural places, underground, or in wells and springs. They have been imagined to be long-lived or immortal and magical powers have been attributed to them. Something associated with elves or the qualities of elves is described by the adjectives elfin, elven, elfish, or elvish. Elves are staple characters in modern Characteristics of mythological elves
    Norse mythology
    Norse mythology knows of light-elves (Liosálfar) who dwell in the third space in heaven, dark-elves (Döckálfar) and black-elves (Svartalfar). The black-elves seem to be the same as with dwarves, though in general elves and dwarfs are distinguished in surviving Norse literature. But about elves (other than Svartalfar) little is said. They are often mentioned along with the gods (Vanir), apparently as lesser spirits of nature or minor gods.
    So little has survived that we have no idea whether these beings were conceived as human-sized or dwarfish. In one case, the full-sized smith hero Völund (see Weyland) is called an elf, indicating that not all Norse elves need be of small size.
    The home of the light-elves is Alfheim (meaning elvenhome), which is ruled by the god Freyr. The dwarves and Svartalfar live in Svartalfheim.
    Scandinavian folklore
    In Scandinavian folklore, which is a later development from Norse mythology that blends in elements of Christian mythology, there are several groups of human-like nature spirits than are akin to "elves" in a modern sense, called tomtar, vittror, and älvor. These are all group under the general name of vättar (compare 'wights').
    The elves of Norse mythology, have survived mainly as females. The älvor (Swedish, singul;ar älva) were stunningly beautiful girls who lived in the forest with an elven king. They were long-lived and light-hearted in nature. They could be seen at night dancing over meadows. The circles they left were called älvdanser (elf dances). If a human watched their dance, he would discover that even though only a few hours seemed to have passed, many years had passed in the real world (this time phenomenon is retold in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings when the fellowship of the ring discovers that time had run a different course in elven Lothlorien).
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    #19 User is offline   Rhuen 

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    Posted 19 April 2004 - 03:24 AM

    Fenris
    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
    In Norse mythology, Fenris was a wolf who was the son of Loki and the giantess Angerboda.
    The Aesir learned that Fenris was prophesied to be responsible (along with his family, the rest of Loki and Angerboda's spawn) for the destruction of the world. Fenris was locked in a cage, fed by Tyr, the only god willing to do so. The gods, once Fenris had become full-grown, decided to trick him into allowing himself to be chained by insinuating that he wouldn't be able to free himself. Fenris agreed to be chained to prove he could break out; he was correct, he was able to break the chains that bound him. The gods then ordered the dwarves to make a chain that could hold Fenris. The dwarves made Gleipnir, a strong, thin ribbon. Fenris agreed to attempt to break Gleipnir, as long as one of the gods was willing to keep his hand in the wolf's mouth during the experience. Tyr was the only one to volunteer. Fenris could not escape and Tyr lost a hand. Fenris was chained to a rock called Gioll deep beneath the earth, with a sword between his jaws to keep him from biting.
    Fenris will remain bound until Ragnarok when he will join forces with those opposing Odin and will devour him. Vidar, Odin's son, will kill Fenris. Until Ragnarok, three chains tie the dread wolf down: Loding, Dromi, and Gleipnir.
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    #20 User is offline   Rhuen 

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    Posted 19 April 2004 - 03:26 AM

    Gnome
    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
    A gnome is a mythical creature. In certain traditions and certain kinds of magickal practice, gnomes are elemental spirits of the element of earth. In other traditions, they are simply small, mischievous sprites or goblins.
    Gnomes are often represented in small ornamental statues called garden gnomes, a German tradition. These are the target of a lot of pranks: people have been known to "return to the wild" these garden gnomes, most notably France's "Front de Liberation des Nains de Jardins" (Garden Gnome Liberation Front). Some kidnapped garden gnomes have been sent on trips around the world, being passed from person to person and photographed at different famous landmarks, with the photos being returned to the owner.
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